Every weekend, Windows Central streams a game or two on Twitch for 1-2 hours and gives out free games to the cool people who join us during the stream. It's like a live podcast, only you also get to watch a game while chatting with our awesome readers and viewers!
Tonight at 8pm Central (9pm Eastern, 6pm Pacific, 2am GMT), we'll be playing Asphalt 8: Airborne from Gameloft. Asphalt 8 is a massive free to play Xbox game for Windows Phone and Windows 8 and RT. Tonight's stream is special because regular co-host Tyler and I will be joined on the microphone by Gameloft Community manager Ryan Changes, also known as "Gameloft" Ryan. And we're giving out Microsoft gift cards donated by Gameloft. Stick around after the Asphalt 8 stream for a bonus Starwhal stream with more prizes!
Update: The streams have ended. Read on to see our Asphalt 8 and Starwhal replay videos, impressions, and full list of contest winners!
Watch live video from EastXTwitch on Twitch
Click here to watch our Starwhal stream! Starwhal is a colorful and humorous Windows and Playstation game.
Asphalt 8: Airborne from Gameloft
Free to play games are hard to get right. They often pester the player to make in-app purchases too much or prevent gamers from playing as much as they want unless they spend real money on energy refills. There are some standout free to play games though, and one of the very best is Asphalt 8: Airborne.
The latest game in the mainline Asphalt racing series ( Asphalt: Overdrive is a spin-off aimed at casual audiences), Asphalt 8 lets players drive more than 40 gorgeous licensed cars on a vast array of tracks. The career mode spans 8+ seasons and over 180 events. Special time-limited events and online multiplayer ensure that players will have plenty to do between career races.
Besides offering tons of content for free, Asphalt 8 excels in part thanks to its eye-popping graphics. Ample car detail (complete with damage modeling) and vibrant colors really bring the racing to life. Playing on Windows 8, you could mistake this one for an Xbox console game.
And even more importantly, Asphalt 8 just controls great. Being an arcade-style racer, steering is intuitive and buttery smooth. Collecting power-ups and pulling off stunts will fill up your Nitro meter. Jam on the nitro button to accelerate to blistering fast speeds.
Factor in Xbox Live Achievements, and Asphalt 8 is the racing game to beat on mobile Windows platforms, Android, and iOS. Join us tonight for exciting races and the chance to meet Game Ryan!
Two contests, one awesome night
We'll be streaming Asphalt 8: Airborne for 90 minutes tonight, starting at 8pm Central (9pm Eastern, 6pm Pacific). During that time, we'll be giving out a total of five prize codes:
- 1 Grand prize: $50 Xbox gift card
- 4 $10 Xbox gift cards
Next, we'll follow up with a bonus stream, Starwhal (from Canadian indie developer Breakfall), starting at 9:30pm Central (11:30pm Eastern, 7:30pm Pacific). Stay up late with us and you might win one of the following prizes:
- 3 Starwhal Steam codes
- 2 Starwhal Playstation 3 and 4 codes (US only)
To enter, just follow me at Twitch.tv/Eastxtwitch (making sure to enable email notifications!) and tune in during the stream. You can watch the stream right here in this post, but you need to actually participate in the stream chat to have a chance at winning. We'll deliver codes to the winners via Twitch message (PM) during the stream. No code begging!
I'm often available for a few minutes before and after the stream if you have any questions or just want to say hi. If you enjoy the stream, be sure to check our schedule and come back for more!
How to watch Twitch livestreams
What's the best way to experience Twitch? The Twitch website on your PC or Mac web browser. If you don't have or prefer not to use a computer, you can get the Xbox One, Playstation 4, or Xbox 360 Twitch apps and watch from the comfort of your couch. Android and iOS both have official and unofficial Twitch apps to choose from as well.
On Windows Phone, you'll have to grab an unofficial app. There are several to choose from, each with different strengths and weaknesses. Only one app lets you search directly for our channel, though. If you use the others you'll have to find and follow us from a web browser first. Read the roundup to learn more!
Streaming schedule
Want to know what's next for Windows Central's weekly Twitch streaming contests? Here's our upcoming schedule. The stream always starts at the same time: 8pm Central (9pm Eastern, 6pm Pacific).
- Saturday, March 7: Order & Chaos Online (Windows 8) from Gameloft. Guest cohost: "Gameloft" Ryan!
- Saturday, March 14: Forza Horizon 2 from Microsoft
In addition to our Saturday contest streams, we also livestream a variety of different games throughout the week. These streams don't have contests, but they still offer a great chance to see more exciting games while enjoying our live commentary and stream chat.
- Mondays: PlayStation Vita games! See what the other side gets to play.
- Tuesdays:The Witcher 2 for Xbox 360. Catch up on The Witcher saga before The Witcher 3 launches in May!
- Wednesdays: Xbox One games. This Wednesday we're playing Dragon Ball Xenoverse and Dyanasty Warriors 8: Empires!
- Thursdays:Dragon Age: Inquisition for Xbox One. Chosen by our loyal viewers!
We hope you'll tune in as often as you can! Set a recurring alarm on your phone so you'll always know when it's time for the stream to start.
Winners
Everybody's a winner, but especially these dudes and dudettes!
$50 Xbox gift card
- Electric_Jack
$10 Xbox gift cards
- bobjones1980
- CMUchippewa
- socalledgamer
- mongbox
Starwhal Steam codes
- Iccyasd
- Betachris
- Lightcycle45
Starwhal Playstation codes
- Cainiac
- Bobjones1980
Thanks to Gameloft and Breakfall for providing tonight's prizes. Thanks also to our Twitch stream moderators for keeping the peace and giving away the prizes!